City of Light \u0026 Shadow (City of a Hundred Rows, #3) by Ian Whates

City of Light \u0026 Shadow (City of a Hundred Rows, #3) Reviews

• 
  Rob

  ...In the previous two volumes, Whates has already shown that he likes to keep the story moving. City of Light & Shadow is a fast paced, fairly straightforward novel, one that does not sacrifice pace to add a bit more detail. Personally I think that is a bit of a missed opportunity, given the interesting setting Whates has created. The nature of the city of Thaiburley becomes a bit clearer, but its history remains as confused as Tom's memory of them for the most part. There is not denying that the fast pace and plentiful action scenes make for a very entertaining story though. It's one of those books you blaze though in a day or two. It is not the most challenging series of books I've ever read but the series is definitely beginning to grow on me. No idea if there will be one but I think I'd like to see a fourth book.
  
  
  Full Random Comments review
• 
  Jason

  2.5 Stars
  
  My review to come but overall this book was a disappointment. The characters are flat and boring. The plot and story line are very straight forward. Characters that I liked in the previous books came out dull and whiny in this read.
  
  This book is a young adult steampunk oriented sci-fi/fantasy. There are many cool machina, creatures, and monsters.
  
• 
  Kara Babcock

  Thaiburley. The City of a Hundred Rows. Nestled in a vast but somewhat unexplored world, Thaiburley is the centre of this story, almost a character itself. From the Pits and Kat to the Heights and the Prime Master, characters of different backgrounds have gradually come together to face the greatest threat this city has seen in ages. They’ve grown and changed in ways they didn’t think was possible. Though I haven’t always been the most enthusiastic reader of this series, Ian Whates leaves no doubt of his skill at plotting and executing a tight story arc. City of Light and Shadow is a fitting conclusion to this trilogy, in that it remains representative of the flaws that have propagated through it.
  
  Whates wastes no time picking up where he left off in the last book. Unfortunately, it has been half a year since I read City of Hope and Despair, so it took a while for me to get up to speed. I was really looking forward to the answers that would come with Tom and Mildra meeting Thaiss … except they didn’t, not really. Instead Whates opts for vague revelations and leaves a lot open to interpretation. I can’t really fault him for this; he presents it in a sensible way. But this stifled exposition is one of my first regrets about the ending of this series: it seems like there is such a rich world here, but we never get to see much of it.
  
  I really like the idea of Thaiburley. I like the tantalizing backstory that Whates dangles before us in this book. I like the idea that it’s a largely neutral, cosmopolitan place amid different kingdoms and empires. Dewar’s story arc in this novel follows the machinations of one such kingdom as Thaiburley’s internal conflicts weaken its political might. Nevertheless, everything about the world outside of Thaiburley still seems murky and ill-defined. And Thaiburley itself, while established in structure and character, has so many more secrets. So, I regret that we didn’t have a chance to explore the city in the way that it truly deserves, or to really tour the larger world that Whates has created.
  
  So Tom becomes a bit of a superhero in this book, unlocking the true extent of his powers under the tutelage of Thaiss. When he returns to Thaiburley, he receives new marching orders. Once again, Tom is a pawn rather than a player. This is by design, however, with Tom reflecting on this characteristic throughout the story and attempting to make decisions based on his own desires. I appreciate this method of circumventing Tom’s passivity, even if it doesn’t seem entirely effective from my perspective as a reader. Tom is still basically connecting the dots of the plot points, and while there is a good reason for that, it doesn’t make the overall plot any more interesting.
  
  Meanwhile, Kat is leading the Tattooed Men, working in an uneasy alliance with the Kite Guard to kill the Soul Thief. Got it? Kat gets short shrift in this book. Though present for most of the action with Tom, I don’t feel like her character develops much further. She exists more as a participant but less as a perspective character, something that I regret. Much like the missed opportunities to further flesh-out his world, Whates doesn’t use some of his principal protagonists to their full potential.
  
  Really, City of Light and Shadow just feels rather messy. There are too many dangling threads that get tied off in inelegant or somewhat rushed ways. The overall result feels like a cross between handwaving and deus ex machina, the latter of which is literally true in a few cases. There is a wonderful, beautiful, compelling story lurking between these pages … but it’s not quite there, like a sculpture that isn’t quite true to life but could be. That’s what frustrates me so much about this series. They aren’t bad books, but they could so obviously be better.
  
  I’d still recommend this series, but I’m not sure who is the best candidate to become a fan. These are uneven books. But at least Whates tries and strives for greatness, so while the stories might be a little messy and the characters not quite developed, there is no doubt that he has set his bar high and aimed for it. And that I can definitely appreciate.
  
  My reviews of the City of a Hundred Rows series:
  
  ← City of Hope & Despair
  
  
  
• 
  Jennifer

  This series is a YA steampunk/high fantasy blend. With cybernetic animals, electricity along with demons and magic and a city of a literally 100 rows, the author has created a fascinating and yet original world. It starts out strong with a teenaged protagonist, Tom, on the run for a murder he did not commit and meeting up with a street wise girl Kat to help him out of his predicament. The pace is non stop action with enough plot twists to keep the pages turning.
  The second book has the main character on a quest to find the source of magic for the city and Kat tracking down an elusive monster that terrorizes the citizens. With two different story lines, the pace slows and we get a bit of a backstory of the City.
  I found the last book to be too neat and pat and I felt the the main characters were never in any danger. The climatic battle was over in two pages and I felt cheated. I think there was so much potential to show off the City of 100 Rows and we never saw the expansion of the originality of the first book and the plot was much slower compared to the first book.
• 
  Joseph

  And for the concluding volume of the trilogy, we're back in Thaiburley, the eponymous City of a Hundred Rows, at least for the most part -- Tom and Kat (sometimes together; sometimes separately) are fighting the forces who seek to bring down the City; meanwhile, the assassin Dewar is wandering around the countryside, left to his own devices. (And the healer Mildra, who came this close to being a romantic option in the previous book, is kind of unceremoniously dropped off in an area where she can do some healing.)
  
  Generally speaking, a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
• 
  Rollie Reid

  I was excited to read the third book of The City of a Hundred Rows. You learn a lot about the goddess Thais and the city of Thaiburley. Unfortunately, a lot of it was boringly presented. Also, the story splits into three parts, and that makes it rather annoying, especially as all three stories are not equally interesting.
  
  Also, the author abandons one of the characters who is carrying his own story and the story is never finished. I was very surprised when he did not put in an appearance at the end, and in fact, I was also quite disappointed. It rather spoiled the ending for me.
  
  
• 
  Mac

  as I recall this was a refreshingly good series....
• 
  Karen

  An enjoyable and entertaining read and a good conclusion to the trilogy. I had hoped there might be a second trilogy but it seems not.